


Golden Green

by MegaWallflower



Series: Smile for the Camera [5]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Awkwardness, Kissing, M/M, Napping, Photography, Pining, Secret Identity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:33:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26913697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MegaWallflower/pseuds/MegaWallflower
Summary: Sukea’s taking nature shots today.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Maito Gai | Might Guy, Maito Gai | Might Guy/Sukea
Series: Smile for the Camera [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1456843
Comments: 10
Kudos: 103





	Golden Green

Even though he had come all the Land of Steam, it was hard finding a nice, scenic spaces without too many tourists and civilians hanging around. Humming pensively, Sukea walked along a grassy trail, looking to shot that would have a nice tone without it coming off as amateurish. He needed some normal photographs to show off to his students to keep this charade going. Something nice and professional-looking, like the pictures from a magazine. Lately, Naruto had been demanding “proof” that Sukea really did travel to the east and west. He also demanded answers about why he hated north and south so much.

Naruto was slowly growing up and getting a little more discerning, in his own weird way. Sukea chuckled to himself. He’d have to work a little bit harder to string them along. But he was having too much fun to quit now.

Golden hour was quickly approaching, which was something he should apparently care about as an expert photographer. Sukea snapped a few more photographs, ultimately decided they were unsatisfying, and kept walking as he tried to figure out what was missing from them. 

Maybe simpler nature shots would be easier to pull off. That was what he first did when he began crafting this fake persona as a photographer. Sukea had taken photos of leaves, insects, flowers –simple, pretty things that were easy to make look nice and wouldn’t be finicky models. They weren’t the best pieces of art in existence, but they helped him master the fundamentals well enough to pretend he knew was he was doing. It had been enough to stop people from getting suspicious about his alleged profession so far.

He was using this persona more and more frequently lately, so Sukea figured he should take the chance to revisit the basics of the trade and gauge his improvement. He should be fine practicing amateurishly, since he was this far from Konoha. None of his students would spot him and start to doubt that he was a real reporter.

Sukea continued his stroll, wandering aimlessly down an emptier path on a hillside, riddled with colorful wildflowers, cute sprouts, and small creatures. It was a perfect place for some nature photos.

He came across so many perfectly picturesque things here, without the hassle having to weave and dodge past any civilians. It was nice here, and there was plenty to look at. The vast expanse of foliage and the way the light broke through. The faint, scattered clouds across the sky framed in leaves. The sleeping green jumpsuit clad shinobi resting in the shade of a tall tree. The flowers winding up trees or peeking through the cracks in rocks.

Sukea breathed in deep, then paused to double back at what he’d just passed by.

Guy.

Sukea cracked a grin. “I really do just keep running into you, don’t I, Green Beast?” 

The strongest man in the world didn’t seem to hear Sukea. He just lied on the grassy hill, eyes shut, legs stretched out, one bent at the knee. A trusting posture, open and unaware. Guy had probably stopped to rest after a mission, but Sukea doubted it was by choice. He was usually the type to rush through travel as fast as he could, even if it meant fainting the second after he finished his mission debrief. He must have really exhausted himself this time, to pass out in a place like this. Maybe he’d even had to open the gates again.

“You overdid it again, didn’t you?” Sukea quietly chided.

Guy didn’t answer. He looked so peaceful against the tree, covered in leaves and grass and flower petals. He was so bizarrely tranquil for a man who was probably only here because he bumped his head against a tree branch and stumbled down.

Sukea bit his lower lip as he cautiously approached the sleeping figure. His hands went to the camera strapped around his shoulders. He wondered if Guy would be mad if he took the chance to immortalize this pleasant scene. Maybe he wouldn’t even notice Sukea. He could get a photo and leave before Guy even knew he was there.

Sukea popped the lens cap off his camera, turned it on, and quickly checked and adjusted his settings, carefully monitoring Guy’s sleeping state. 

“Guy?” He decided to ask again, just to be safe. “Are you awake? Can you hear me?” 

Guy’s lack of response encouraged Sukea to snap a quick picture. With a satisfied grin, he looked down at his camera and checked the image. It was a little blurry from shaky hands, so he refocused the lens, breathed to calm his nerves, and captured a few more still images of Guy against the browns and greens of the forest, or Guy against the blues and whites of the sky that were turning into oranges and reds. Sukea would love to get closer, but he kept his distance and opted to simply zoom in on Guy from afar.

Guy was wearing his usual jumpsuit, but the sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. The uniform vest was left wide open as always, so Sukea could watch the rise and fall of his chest. He shifted slightly, and his hair fell over his face.

Sukea’s mouth twitched. It was cute.

He couldn’t resist drawing a little closer. Sunlight streaming through branches cast weird shadows over Guy’s face, but they slipped away when Sukea stepped up, covering them with his own shadow. Sukea crouched down in front of Guy, level with his face, intimately close.

Sukea studied his face silently for a moment, tucking his hair behind his ear. Guy really was cute. He always had been, but he grew into his own brand of handsomeness over the years. He liked the way his dark hair and long eyelashes looked fanned out against his olive skin. Guy was taller now, broader, more angular and muscled, but still… “Cute.”

Sukea would usually find some excuse to shy away from Guy’s gaze, because he never quite knew what to expect – confusion, suspicion, fondness, recognition. Sometimes Guy seemed like he could intuitively tell that this was Kakashi, but sometimes his eyes were as kind and soft as if he was infatuated with some stranger when he looked at Sukea. Kakashi never knew how to feel about it, whether he was jealous of himself or if he just felt guilty to be so happy to be close to Guy like this. If he got too close, Guy would see right through him, just like he always did, no matter what sort of mask Kakashi wore.

But Guy’s eyes were closed now. He couldn’t see Sukea, unmasked and pining, looking straight at him. He was sound asleep, serene and peaceful in a way Kakashi had only rarely seen him. His lips were slightly parted, letting out regular, even breaths and quiet snores.

Sukea’s eyes shifted to focus on those lips. He noticed the hint of a dimple at edge of the lip. He leaned in closer to focus on that mouth, curved up into a sweet, sleepy smile. Guy was asleep, out here in the vulnerable open.

Sukea sat for long minutes, motionless, silent, hanging on barely audible exhalations, cataloguing sighs, counting breaths, watching fingers twitch and eyes move behind closed lids as dreams came and went.

He felt like a voyeur – he probably was a voyeur – but he wanted some of that calmness too.

Sukea wanted to slip beside Guy. He’d like to lie close enough to him that he felt his breath over his face. He’d like to close his eyes and relish in Guy’s serenity, embrace it and take it in, let it make him a better person, as Sukea, when he could accept it without restraint. He’d like to fall asleep and be the first thing Guy saw when he opened his eyes. He’d like for Guy not to be startled by that. He’d like for Guy to like that, too.

And as much as Sukea might imagine himself sliding under the tree beside Guy, curling into his embrace and falling asleep, it wasn’t his deepest wish.

“Guy…” Sukea was careful as he drew just a little closer. Smiling softly to himself, he reached out, trailing his finger slowly over Guy’s furrowed brows and chuckling when his forehead smoothed out.

He trailed his fingers over the curve of Guy’s nose, watching it twitch with a chuckle before he continued on. With the tips of his fingers, he traced Guy’s lips before moving his hand and leaning in to press his lips against his cheek as gently as he could without waking him up.

Guy still didn’t stir. Feeling braver, Sukea moved closer and stole Guy’s mouth in a lingering kiss, opened his mouth slightly so he could feel Guy exhale against Sukea’s lips.

He pulled back with a contented sigh. He lifted up his camera again, aiming for a much closer shot now. “You’re so cute…” Sukea said again, through the lens of his camera, preparing to snap another picture when Guy suddenly cracked open his eyes.

Sukea whipped his camera down, hoping that Guy hadn’t seen him primed to take another photo. Luckily, Guy didn’t seem to notice. He just rubbed his eyes and pushed himself into a sitting position. His eyelashes batted as his eyes fluttered open, until Sukea could see himself reflected in those tired, dark eyes.

“Mh… Sukea?” he asked, grogginess slowly falling away. Guy hummed loudly and stretched out his arms. “What are you up to?” 

Sukea let out the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. Guy still seemed bleary and unaware. “Nature shots,” Sukea managed to say, knowing he sounded guilty and praying Guy somehow wouldn’t remark on it. 

“Oh! Of course, you are! Sukea, brilliant photographer that travels east and west, chasing his scoops! I should have known! Nature shots, how nice!” Guy nodded and stretched. “Well, let me just get out of your way.”

Sukea’s guilty smile dropped when Guy started to stand up.

“Don’t go.” Sukea inwardly cursed himself for his forwardness but pressed on, trying for cool and nonchalant, grasping weakly for the flippant attitude he always had waiting at arm's reach. “You’re fine where you are.”

Guy seemed confused by the sudden urgency, but at least it made him stop. A beat of silence passed between the two of them. “Won’t I get in the way of your nature shots? The scenery’s so beautiful and peaceful here.”

“I think a wild green beast is just as much a part of nature as anything else here,” Sukea offered. It sounded feasible enough to convince him.

Guy laughed at that explanation, the genuine sort of laughter that shook his shoulders and his belly and his hair, the kind of laughter that gave Sukea butterflies in his stomach. Reflexively, Sukea took a picture of it.

Guy jolted at being photographed so abruptly and shook his head. “Wha—Not even a warning? You’re quick.” Guy grinned, and Sukea shoulder’s slackened in relief at how good-natured he was being about all this. “Old habits die hard, huh? You may have retired from your shinobi life, but you’re probably as sneaky as you were back then! I can guess what your specialty must have been back then!”

Sukea raised a brow and cocked his head. “You think I’m sneaky? I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Guy rolled his eyes and scooted over so he could peek at Sukea’s camera. “Well, did you get a good picture?” 

“You shinobi are so nosy…” His lips curled up into a satisfied smile and he leaned fondly against Guy, admiring his own handiwork. “Yes, I’m a professional. The picture turned out great, as always.”

“Was it very cute?” Guy asked.

“Cute?” Sukea echoed, amused. 

“Hey, those were your words, not mine.” 

Sukea’s eyes widened and his face heated up as he tried to comprehend the unexpected statement. “…My words?” He risked a glance at Guy.

Guy wasn’t blushing at all, just looking over at Sukea with a knowing expression. “Yes, if I remember correctly… You asked if I was awake, and then you called me ‘so cute’?” 

Sukea broke eye contact when he could feel his face get hotter by the second. He tried not to look too mortified, but he knew he had failed when Guy started giggling. Guy was laughing at the sight of his flustered friend. Hiding his face behind his hands and suddenly missing his mask, Sukea groaned, “I thought you were asleep.”

Guy covered his mouth, muffling a snort. “I _was_.” 

“What the hell, Guy...?” Guy consoled Sukea with a sympathetic pat on his back. “You really heard me?” Sukea’s eyes stayed glued to his camera’s preview screen. Looking at the real Guy sitting next to him might make him burst into flames. He was at least relieved that Sukea embarrassed himself, and not Kakashi.

“Yep! Sorry to mess up your little prank or photoshoot or whatever you were trying to do! To be fair, at first, I thought I was still dreaming. But it was all in good fun!”

Sukea blinked. It was a breath of cold air, sharp in Sukea's face and bracing even as it blew through him. He could argue that Guy had dismissed him, had brushed aside as a prank a quiet confession that was anything but a joke. He wanted to be upset, but there was that part of him that was desperately relieved by the neat, little opening to pretend this was nothing more than some playful scene setting. There was part of him that was so thankful for being allowed to easily salvage Sukea’s pride.

There was a larger part of him that was thankful that Guy was apparently that willing to overlook a “prank” like that from Sukea, too.

Sukea held his breath and risked a glance in Guy’s direction. Guy’s smirk turned soft, and Sukea felt his heart threaten to burst out of his chest. Although Guy was annoyingly amused, there was no malice behind his expression.

In fact, the fondness in that smile successfully snapped Sukea out of his mortified stupor. He couldn’t really embarrass himself. After all, Sukea didn’t feel things like embarrassment. Only Kakashi did. Sukea was fearless.

Emboldened, Sukea smiled and quipped, “Embarrassing me this much, and all you have to say is ‘sorry’?”

“Is there something else I should be saying?” Guy gave a shrug, looking self-satisfied. As if this was over and he’d won. Kakashi’s competitive nature stirred. “It’s not my fault you found me while I was resting my eyes and tried to be sneaky.”

Sukea scratched at his own painted cheek and leaned back against Guy. He sighed, “Fine. That’s fair. I guess that’s what I get for trying to pull one over on the legendary Might Guy. You got me,” Sukea flashed him a wry smile and added dryly, “I’ll admit it to your face this time. I think you’re very cute, Guy. Really.”

Guy blinked. He seemed surprised by the earnest tone Sukea had suddenly taken. “You’re serious?”

Sukea nodded, which doubled as a snuggle against Guy. “…Since we’re admitting things now…” Sukea’s eyes gleamed with interest. “If you thought you were just dreaming when you heard my voice, are you saying that it’s not out of the ordinary for you to dream about me?”

“That’s… I…” Guy answered cautiously. Suddenly, Guy’s cheeks were heating up, flushing bright. “—Wait! Don’t turn this around on me!”

And there it was. That embarrassed and that adorable flush high on his cheeks. A perfect reversal. Guy was stammering and dodging the question, trying to pretend he wasn’t bothered at all.

Sukea was right. Guy was so cute.

“If I waited a little longer,” Sukea continued in a flirty voice. “Would I have heard you moaning my name in your sleep? Don’t be shy. Maybe you’re still dreaming.” His hand set itself on Guy’s leg, and Guy’s whole body stiffened in alert. “This is the sort of thing your dreams are made of, isn’t it? You can let loose a little bit. As my apology for messing with you during your break, why don’t you let me make your dreams come true?”

Guy’s blood flared hot. Sukea could see it all over his face, steaming with indignation at the gall of Sukea, to gloat and tease and prod all of a sudden. He could feel it in the very slight tremor in this leg. Sukea had successfully turned this around on him. Kakashi had to stop himself from saying anything about the point he felt that should have earned him.

“How often do you dream about me calling you cute? Do you want me to say it again? I will if you want. You’re so cute, Guy. You’re adorable. Absolutely precious. My cutest model.”

Guy grabbed Sukea by the shoulders and shoved lightly to put some distance between them. He was so flustered he couldn’t look Sukea in the eyes as he said, “—Let’s focus! You were going to show me the pictures you took, right?”

Sukea laughed and pulled his camera back up. “Look who’s trying to change the subject now! Sure, I’ll show my cute pictures if you really want to see them.”

Sukea scrolled through the photos, with Guy glancing over his shoulder. The two of them reacted to each one, and Sukea felt his initial embarrassment fading like the heat dissipating into the late afternoon sky. The only warmth he still felt was Guy’s arm pressed flushed against his.

Once they had gone through all the photos, Guy asked again. “So? Which is the cutest?” He sounded timid this time.

“Maybe cute wasn’t the right word after all...” Sukea rolled his eyes. He kept flipping through the photos until he landed on his favorite one. It had Guy sleeping soundly, angled with the sky as his backdrop. Half his face was illuminated orange from the setting sun. The sunlight left a slight glow to his skin. His silky hair was flowing thanks to a perfectly timed gust of wind, with a few stray strands splayed around his cheek. A single hair was stuck to the corner of his mouth, and the small imperfection is something Sukea treasured, too. The small flaw —if he could even call it that— captured the essence of Might Guy. His long eyelashes, his slight dimple, his angled features. It was all there, with the corners of his lips were curled up in the smallest hints of a smile. His hair glimmered in the sunlight. His cheeks were tinted pink and bridge of his nose was smooth and relaxed. 

_Ah_ , Sukea mused to himself. _So that’s golden hour._

Photography might be a nice hobby, after all.

“’Radiant’ fits well for you.” Sukea finally decided, smiling proudly at his camera. “Does that sound better?”

He was so focused on his picture of Guy, Sukea almost didn’t notice the real Guy leaning in until he felt soft, warm lips on his cheek, gently kissing him. He froze. His brain stuttered to a stop.

“…Wh—” 

A finger pressed against Sukea’s lips. “Payback. I can be sneaky, too.” Guy whispered like a secret. He winked and added, “Don’t underestimate an active shinobi.”

Sukea swore his heart might actually burst this time. It was getting darker, but he still must have looked ridiculous, face full of hues of purples and pinks and reds. In one final act of defiance fueled partly by Kakashi’s competitiveness, but fueled more by the fact that Sukea was bold and playful and had nothing to lose and just wanted to do this, Sukea took Guy by the wrist and pulled his finger away from Sukea’s mouth.

“…An active shinobi should have better aim than that. You missed.”

“What?” Guy scrunched his eyebrows in confusion.

He took Guy by the chin and tilted his head as he leaned in to meet him. “I said your payback missed the mark,” Sukea murmured against Guy’s lips.

Before Guy could even comprehend what was happening, his lips were moving in synch with Sukea’s. Both of their eyelids fluttered shut as their lips connected and they eased into the contact. The recaptured kiss didn’t last long, and it was kind of messy, but also sensual, tender, and sweet. Just like Guy. It was better than Sukea could’ve had imagined. They were both laughing when they pulled away.

They were both blushing now, but more than being flustered, they were giddy with excitement.

“This isn’t the sort of battle I’d expected to be pulled into today!” Guy managed in between bursts of laughter.

“Me, neither. I was just here for some nice nature shots,” Sukea reminded, leaning against him again. He traced his finger along his own lips pensively. He’d kissed Guy, awake and asleep today. And Guy had kissed him back. He’d kissed _Sukea_. Kakashi decided not to wonder why. “You’re always such a big distraction to me as a photographer.”

A snicker left Sukea as Guy rolled his eyes, simultaneously melodious and dry. “Well, I’m sorry for that!” The beast leaned back, tousling his hair before sighing. “Speaking of our professions… As a shinobi, it would be pretty bad for me if anyone learned I was here now, and was able to put two and two together to figure out where I’d been on my latest mission. So, I’ll have to ask you to keep those photos to yourself, Sukea.”

“Really? These are more photos for my private collection of you?” Sukea waved his camera around glibly. “I would have been bolder if I knew that.”

“Well, I can keep a secret if you can, Sukea.” It felt like the sort of thing that would be accompanied by a wink and a thumbs-up from Guy, normally. It wasn’t. It only came with a sincere, tender smile.

Sukea winked and held a thumb up in his place. “Believe me, I can.”


End file.
